


Cups of Resistance Tea and First Order Coffee

by Galactic_Yakult



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:28:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21938236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galactic_Yakult/pseuds/Galactic_Yakult
Summary: Galaxy Street is famous for its many different cafes, but The Resistance and The First Order are the most prominent, especially being right across each other with the tea-coffee rivalry. They represent the long running rivalry between legendary tea specialist Luke Skywalker and barista Sheev Palpatine. Although many argue which of them is better, most agree that Poe's the best pastry chef in the galaxy.
Relationships: Finn & Rey (Star Wars), Poe Dameron & Finn, Poe Dameron & Finn & Rey, Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Cups of Resistance Tea and First Order Coffee

Poe Dameron, the best pastry chef in the galaxy, never thought that he would ever step foot inside First Order Coffee across the street. Yet, he loves Leia a lot, even if it means having to bake a birthday cake for her obnoxious barista son. She’s abroad and can’t congratulate Ben in person, hence the favor. 

“Welcome to First Order, may I take your order?”

A cheerful guy with “Hi, I’m Finn - may I take your order?” on his white shirt caught Poe by surprise. First Order employees aren’t usually this friendly. 

“Umm, really sorry buddy, I’m not here for coffee, is Ben here?” 

Poe tried his best to match Finn’s friendliness. Nice people are rare these days, and First Order or not, Finn seems really nice.

Confusion spread across Finn’s face. Before he could say anything though, heavy steps approached from the back of the counter.

“Dameron. I thought I made it clear that I go by Kylo Ren now.” 

Finn did a double take on both of them before making a silent ‘oooh…’

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Leia said happy birthday,” Poe handed Ben the cake over the counter, clearly wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. 

Ben eyed the plastic box with a green cake inside. A lazy frosting with a lighter green color writes “HBD Ben.”

“I despise matcha.”

“I know, but Leia loves them,” Poe grinned while making his way out, passing the line of customers, some curious with the rare exchange between the most famous patissiere and barista in town, but most are just busy with their phones.

“You shouldn’t be wasting your talents like this. Come join me, I’ll pay you better than that useless old man.”

Poe stopped in his tracks and turned around, teeth gritted about to say something not so nice.

Sensing the tension, Finn made an awkward cough, and called to the line much louder than usual.

“Next please! Welcome to First Order, may I take your order?!” 

Eventually, Poe only stared at Ben, turned around again, and made his way across the street, where a very useful old man named Luke Skywalker is brewing tea.

…

Rey is tired, and although she’s acing all of her classes, Aerospace Engineering is a difficult, difficult major. She’s walking to class through Galaxy Street near the Astronomy Building when she realized she’s never been to either of the famous rival shops there to grab a cup of tea or coffee. She’s British, so she always opted to brew a cuppa tea at her apartment. Unfortunately, today’s Professor Ackbar’s exam, so she didn’t sleep and didn’t really have time to... brew a cuppa.

There’s still 45 minutes left until the exam, she always plans to arrive early, so she debated whether to grab a cuppa instead. She seriously considered whether she should try coffee for a change, seeing the no sleep-exam situation - she might need the caffeine - before a tiny white-orange dog ran towards her.

“Hey!” the dog jumped at her as she rubbed its back. She’s always had a soft spot for animals.  
The dog barked and licked as she continued to rub it here and there.  
“Are you alone darling? Where’s your owner?”

“She’s from The Resistance, I always see the pastry chef there walking her before opening time, a lovely dog,” a stranger crouched beside her and joined in the rubbing.

“A lovely dog indeed.”

Rey smiled at the stranger, definitely from the First Order, and his name is Finn, judging from his shirt. 

“I’m Finn by the way, just finished my shift at the First Order.”

“I can see that,” Rey laughed pointing at his shirt.

Finn laughed along. “I hate this shirt. I also hate coffee, and that jerk Kylo Ren too, did you know that his name is actually Ben but just because he’s a hot shot barista now he wants to have some sort of mysterious stage name?”

“No actually, I know nothing about campus gossip,” 

Rey blushed and ducked a little bit. She’s always been a bit ashamed with the fact that she never goes out to parties at clubs or hangout and study at cafes, unlike most of her classmates. Honestly though, she’s happy with just studying in her apartment, watching netflix on weekends, and sometimes going to Unkar Plutt’s place to find some junk to tinker with.

Her laptop, fridge, toaster, heater, and a bunch of other appliances are all thrown away junk that she repaired. She’s used to tinkering with stuff, her foster home in England wasn’t the best, things were old and broke down a lot, so she had to take it upon herself to fix things. She also needed to save money, she’s on scholarship and opted to find a single apartment rather than a shared one. She lived her whole life with a bunch of other children at the foster home and never had any private space. So although single apartments are smaller and much more expensive than splitting rent, anything’s better than having to share a room with a stranger.

“Good for you then, most of them are just useless rubbish,” Finn grinned. 

Rey sighed a relief. “Couldn’t agree more, I’m Rey, by the way,” she offered a hand to shake.

“Nice meeting you Rey, British?” 

Rey nodded.

“Fancy tea more than coffee then? You should be relieved, you don’t have to go through Ren and his rants on each coffee’s philosophy just to get a cup in the morning, I still don’t know why the chicks dig them. I mean, he pays well, but I’d quit just because I can’t stand him.”

“Never tried coffee, might try one day, but from what you said I think I won’t buy one at the First Order,” Rey made a wide grin.

Finn seems like a really good person, and if even he spoke of Kylo Ren- or Ben or whoever this guy is - that badly, then he must really be a jerk.

“Are you studying here?” Finn tries to keep the conversation going while the dog is already lying down on its back enjoying rubs on her tummy.

“Yes, I’m studying Aerospace Engineering,” Rey took a peek at her watch, “and I think I should be going now, I have an exam soon,” she gathered her stuff and stood up.

“Must be a difficult exam, I wish you the best of luck. I’m studying literature, won’t understand a thing about numbers, aerodynamics and stuff like that. Well it’s been pleasant talking with you, meet you again sometime?” Finn stood as well, one hand still rubbing the dog’s head.

“Yes, I hope so.” 

And she really does hope so. Finn might become her first real friend after almost an entire semester here. He seemed to realize and not mind that she doesn’t talk much, and is able to carry the conversation genuinely. She feels at ease and trust he’s a good person, unlike the conversations she tried to join in the classes she attends, where people force their opinions to be heard in boring and irrelevant topics.

Rey waves goodbye and starts to walk to her class. Seeing her leave, Finn pats the dog on the head.

“Okay, let’s get you back to The Resistance,” just as he’s about to pick the dog up, The Resistance’s doors opened and the dog ran towards them.

“Bee! I was looking for you everywhere, ah, it’s you, Finn right? Did Bee bother you?”

The dog, apparently named Bee, is already nesting comfortably in Poe’s arms as he walked towards Finn.

“No-no, she's really-really cute actually. Yes, I'm Finn, and you’re Poe Dameron right? People say you’re the best pastry chef in the galaxy!”

Galaxy Street is famous for its many different cafes, but The Resistance and The First Order are the most prominent, especially being right across each other with the tea-coffee rivalry. They represent the long running rivalry between legendary tea specialist Luke Skywalker and barista Sheev Palpatine. Although many argue which of them is better, most agree that Poe's the best pastry chef in the galaxy.

“Hush, don’t let Hux hear that,” Poe lets out a laugh. Armitage Hux is the pastry chef at The First Order, most people say that his cakes are just meh.

“I don’t care really, most people there are just unpleasant, you can mock them all you want.”

“Ah, quite the rebel aren’t you? Seems to me you’re not a coffee imperialist like most of the storm troopers are.”

Finn winced at that. Kylo Ren recently suggested that the waiters and baristas at First Order be called ‘storm troopers’ for branding and solidarity’s sake. Finn almost laughed at the idea but all the others were agreeing in frat-like enthusiasm and Ren-Palpatine-Coffee worshipping. 

“I’m only there for the money really,” Finn scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

“Well Finn, if you really want to rebel, you should join The Resistance. One of our part-time waiter is about to graduate soon and we’re going to open vacancy. But, I can talk to Luke and let you in like right away. The money’s not as much as The First Order, but the people here are definitely nicer.”

The First Order’s a large brand, with outlets everywhere, but the one on campus is one of its biggest outlet, especially because of the abundance of sleep deprived students and the fact that Kylo Ren is stationed there by Palpatine. That’s why the pay’s much higher. But Finn thinks that if he has to spend more of his early mornings with obnoxious coffee imperialists and the afternoons with edgy wannabe writers and critics in class, he might completely lose it.

So, he didn’t think too long when he said yes, and when Poe offered a slice of his famous meringue pie with a cup of tea of Luke’s choice while talking about the arrangements, Finn immediately felt that he finally found a place where he belongs.


End file.
